Dangerously Hungry: The Link Between Food Insecurity and Conflict

While it has long been known that conflict produces food insecurity, this report examines that relationship in the inverse. Studies included in this literature review explicitly test food insecurity’s impact—quantitatively and qualitatively—on conflict. It captures the tremendous growth in food-related instability literature since 2017. It shows the drivers of food-related instability can be grouped into three main categories: the climate crisis, resource conflict, and economic shocks, and that food insecurity alone rarely produces conflict.